CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Masters celebration didn’t last long, nor was it very public. Rory McIlroy headed to London with his family to check on a new home. He then went to Northern Ireland to visit with his parents and close friends, nary a photo or social media post to be found.
He returned to the United States for a previously planned outing, headed to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic where he teamed with partner and friend Shane Lowry and then it was back home to Florida, where McIlroy might have been excused if he either collapsed from exhaustion or celebrated for weeks.
The Masters victory on April 13 was that big of a deal to McIlroy, who had been chasing that elusive dream for the better part of a decade, all manner of disappointments both at Augusta National and other major championships littering the path to glory.
After it was done, he could've propped up his feet and taken a break.
Instead, he hit the ground again.
“I would give him an out and completely understand,” said fellow pro Lucas Glover, who was surprised to see McIlroy soon after the New Orleans tournament practicing at their Florida golf club. “But he wants to get back out there as soon as possible. That sort of piqued my interest. He’s going to ride this wave and keep after it.
"I saw him at home with his coach [Michael Bannon] and obviously he works very hard. Disciplined and very driven. But if he disappeared from the back of the driving range at the Bear’s Club, everybody would understand.”
McIlroy appears intent on feeding off what he’s accomplished this year and going after another major championship this week at Quail Hollow Golf Club, site of the PGA Championship.
It’s only been four weeks since his Masters triumph, but McIlroy is now presented with the unique opportunity of being the only player who has a chance to win the calendar-year Grand Slam—victories in each of the four major championships in the same year.
After finally completing the career Slam after an 11-year quest, perhaps the idea of winning all four in the same year is a bit ambitious. But these next three major venues set up beautifully for McIlroy. Why not dream big?
“I think there’s a few things,” McIlroy said last week at the Truist Championship. “I’m obviously going to feel more comfortable and less pressure, and I’m also going back to a venue that I love. It’s nothing but positive vibes going in there with what happened a few weeks ago and then with my history there and how well I’ve played at Quail.
“It probably will feel a little bit different. I probably won’t be quite as on edge as I have been for the last few years when I’ve been at major championships. I’ll probably be a little bit better to be around for my family, and I’ll be a little more relaxed. I think overall it will be a good thing.”
And it makes sense. McIlroy himself said he felt relief after the Masters victory. A weight had been lifted. The pressure is off. Surely, if McIlroy gets in contention this week, he will feel the nerves associated with trying to win one of the game’s biggest tournaments.
But it can be nowhere near the burden he carried at Augusta National. Obviously if he is in the mix and fails to win, it’ll be disappointing. But a green jacket is liberating.
“That is certainly what he is saying; that’s what he is telling me,” said Bob Rotella, the longtime sports psychologist who works with McIlroy. “That’s what he is doing. I don’t think he realized how much of a burden wanting to win the Masters and the (career) Grand Slam was until he completed it. He was so locked in.
“He is definitely now saying it’s going to allow him to play with some freedom and flow. Now the challenge is can he combine that with his game. Rory’s got bigger ideas and dream that he is chasing and I think he will stay disciplined and devoted. More acceptance, more hunger and more ambition. And play with more freedom.”
It is also quite possible that McIlroy realizes the opportunity that lay ahead.
Why This Could Be the Summer of Rory
What more does he need to achieve, really?
He’s got five major championships and 29 PGA Tour victories. He has major starts assured for the rest of his career and will undoubtedly add to his victory total. He has a big goal of helping Europe win a Ryder Cup this fall in the United States.
But he may never have a more favorable major venue lineup that what remains this year.
He’s won four times at Quail Hollow, including last year. Oakmont, where he missed the cut in 2016 when Dustin Johnson won the U.S. Open, is the kind of stern test that suits him if he’s driving it well. And Royal Portrush, site of the British Open, is in his boyhood backyard, a place where he set the course record at age 16.
This isn’t to suggest he will win all of them. Or even one of them. But he could not dream of a better setup.
“I do think it frees him up, of course," said Curtis Strange, the two-time U.S. Open champion who will be part of the ESPN broadcast. “How he plays after that by being freed up, I can only imagine that—as long as he stays motivated and he’s still so young, he’s in his prime, he should play the same he’s been playing, wonderful golf, maybe free up a little bit in the majors.
“But here’s a guy that wins four or five times every year, so it’s a big ask to have him play actually better ... it’s not only the Masters he’s been after. It’s any major for a number of years. Hopefully he can continue on this trend.”
Strange said the combination of McIlroy’s strong game, his relief from winning the Masters and his work with Rotella could all lead to further success.
Strange, who won 17 times on the PGA Tour, said he also worked at times with Rotella, so understands how the mental-game coach might help.
“I think that it’s interesting; we’re not privy to those conversations, nor should we be, but probably helped him relax," Strange says. “Fun is a big part of Bob’s vocabulary. Focus on every shot and have fun. That’s what I've continued to read over and over.
“Bob doesn’t tell you how to do it, he just tells you how to prepare for it. If nothing else, I don’t think any of us can comprehend the pressure that Rory has been under, and I think only when he accomplished what he did that seems to be the norm.
“I think Bob just helped him navigate that, relax, and go do what you know how to do. We kept saying it: ‘Be Rory.’ But sometimes that’s easier said than done because the end goal of winning the Grand Slam is so grand and so large that Bob just kind of helped him probably just relax a little bit.”
With all due respect to top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who is coming off an impressive victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, McIlroy has been the best player in golf this year.
He has three victories, including Pebble Beach and the Players Championship to go along with the Masters. His worst finish in seven worldwide starts is a tie for 17th.
And he’s narrowed the gap on Scheffler’s No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, making the quest at least manageable if he continues his great play.
“You don’t win majors the way you dream them up,” Rotella said. “You think of playing beautiful and it never happens that way. Can you handle the crazy stuff that happens? And thank goodness he did.”
At Augusta McIlroy overcame a poor finish to the first round when he made two double bogeys in the last four holes. He stayed patient despite falling well behind early in the second round. He made a nice run on Saturday to give himself the 54-hole lead over Bryson DeChambeau, then didn’t panic when he lost it in a matter of two holes.
The closing holes on Sunday afternoon were as nerve-racking as it gets, Rotella said, but McIlroy stayed true to himself.
“The silliest thing I’ve heard is that if Rory hadn’t won, he would have been done,” Rotella said. “Are you crazy? He’s been chasing this thing for a long time and kept coming back. Why would this stop him? It makes you want it more. More proud when you get it and persevere. Most people in the world give up on their dreams. He didn’t. He kept plying away until it happened. It’s easy to go the other way.”
McIlroy didn’t crack, and now has the chance for more glory.
“Mentally, he can turn that page,” said Glover, who won the 2009 U.S. Open. “His career and his book, if you will. ‘Oh yeah, I can win the Grand Slam.’ I don’t know if that’s ever entered his head. But I think it’s an interesting thought exercise for someone who’s done everything.
“What’s taking him to the driving range with his coach a day after New Orleans? Because there can’t be much else to motivate the guy.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Look Out, Quail Hollow: Rory McIlroy Enters This PGA Championship Feeling Better Than Ever.